Just walked in the door with a new shield. I went to take it down and the slide stop will not engage the slide. Prior to trying to take it down I had engaged it and it was okay. When I tried to take it down I pulled the slide back, engaged the slide stop and rotated the take down lever. Then as I do in my 9 and 9c I pulled the trigger rather than move the sear deactivation lever with a tool. Well the slide did not come off. So I tried again. This time when I pulled the slide back the slide stop did not move at all. Seems stuck. Did I ***** it or is there a solution. Already called S&W and they e-mailed me a label but their gunsmiths are not back until 8/11. Looking for a quicker solution.

I just followed the instructions in the manual - it did just say that specifically I needed to move the lever forward and down. Being a 1911 guy, I would not pull the trigger lest it hose the hammer with time (yes, learned that the hard way).

I've stripped mine a couple of dozen times, and only fail to get the slide off when I forgot the lever. At that point, it got locked up. I did eventually get it cleared, but don't remember how.

I have had my 9 and 9c for years. Never a problem. Sometimes I use a tool and sometimes I pull the trigger. I obviously did something. Any fixes?

Ok I was able to finally take it down without first putting it into slide lock. Once I did that I reassembled the pistol and still could not get the slide lock to engage. Took it down again this time without the barrel and spring and the slide lock engaged. After some detective work the recoil spring is the culprit. After fiddling with it and rotating it and trying to reassemble I finally was able to push the slide back far enough to engage the slide stop. Prior to fiddling I could not push the barrel and slide rear enough to engage the stop no matter what I did.

The one thing I did notice is the portion of the spring which rests against the barrel shroud ends in a metal disk. My disk is slightly bent. Wondering if this is normal. Comments welcomed.

I, and many others have had this issue with a new shield. There are several posts on this. In my case leaving it locked back for several days and getting a couple hundred rounds through it solved the problem. I was so upset at first I wanted to get rid of what is now my EDC!!

I was pissed but before I posted I searched and read about the recoil spring being slighty off center, and stiff etc. I didn't think that was the problem. However, that was the problem. Good idea to keep the slide locked back. I will be shooting it tomorrow. I normally carry a 9c at either appendix or about 4 o'clock. Just wanted to go with a single stack when I didn't feel like carrying a lot of weight which I believe will be most of the time now. Can't believe I use to carry a 5" 1911.

OK, getting it far enough back to lock is a whole different story. By the time the recoil spring softened up enough to be able to easily lock it back, CS told me it needed to be changed. At least they sent the spring assembly for free. ARRGH.

Two thoughts.
1) Use an empty mag rather than trying to do it the hard way.
2) Use the "ladies" approach to racking the slide. Hold the slide firmly in your support hand, and push the frame forward with the strong hand. Hate to admit I do it that way, but arthritis is winning that battle.

The end on both the springs has been bent to some degree.I am at 2000 rounds through it at this point.

I will call CS once the gunsmiths return which will be 8/11. Until then I will shoot the fire out of it.

WB,

I found the cause of your problem. I was in a rather unpleasant mood this afternoon, so I went for recoil therapy, which means gun cleaning tonight.

I remembered your question. Since the Shield is my first striker firearm (I am a 1911/ revolver guy since 1967), and there is no parts list in my S&W user manual, I'm going to punt on descriptions.

If you simply pull the trigger, the center plate to the rear of the slide, centered between the rear rails,which I would call the sear, lowers. However, when you release the trigger, it pops back up, and would engage with the firing pin and spring. That would block the slide from being removed.

The lever that they tell you to move forward & down lowers that plate and locks it down so that the firing pin and spring will clear.

If you got the slide off without moving the lever, it could only be because you kept the trigger depressed as the slide moved over the sear.

I was in a somewhat foul mood, so did the experiments to prove this out, and reproduced what you describe.

With my pitiful terminology, that is a description of why your slide was locked on.

Anybody who works with me and reads this will have no doubt who wrote it. Oh well ...

WB,
This might help a little with the parts identification: M&P Parts Identification

This is a good thought, but isn't really how it works. Once the trigger is pulled, the sear releases the striker. This puts the striker tang in front of the sear. So, as long as you just push the slide off the front of the gun at that point, it should just come right off.

The "pull the trigger" method does work, but I don't recommend it. Using the sear disconnect lever is much better and safer.

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Good diagram. If I had seen that first, I would describe what I see happening as this -

With the slide pulled back as described, pulling and holding the trigger, or using the lever, brings part #28 (the sear) to a lower, flat, position. That allows part #10 (the striker) to clear as you remove the slide. If you pull, then release the trigger, the sear lowers, then pops back up, and would block the striker if it had not already passed over the sear.

Messed with it a bit, and the situation is repeatable.

If the trigger were pulled, but the slide was not pulled back, the striker would clear, as Rastoff describes.

Since I am mad at my Shield after a miserable session of numerous jams and light strikes, it is going back for the fourth time, so playing with the parts operation doesn't bother me as much as it normally would.

And that would explain why the recoil therapy did not accomplish what was intended.

Rastoff - Really liked the parts diagram.

Quick update on my abysmal failure of a range trip, followed by a day that made it look like a walk in the park -

I broke the rules and pulled the striker, since I was getting a lot of light strikes. There was a strand of rough metal wrapped around the plastic at the firing pin end. Not pretty, and from what little I know about striker-fired weapons, a "smoking gun" for my bad night. Not sure how CS didn't find that in three trips back I couldn't say.

I compared it to the brushes I use, and it could not have been a lost bristle. More like a manufacturing shard.

But I'll run it again later this week to see if I've solved anything, or just broken it beyond hope.

Removing the striker assembly is not "breaking the rules." It's prudent trouble shooting when diagnosing a light strike.

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